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Indonesia Postpones Execution Of A Nigerian and 7 Other Drug Convicts

Indonesia,
on Friday [Feb. 20], announced the postponement of the execution of eight drug
convicts on death row for up to three weeks, citing a delay in preparations. Attorney-General
spokesman, Tony Spontana, said the executors surveying the facilities on
Nusakambangan penal Island, off Javafound, discovered that it was not ready to
handle the executions.

“The
execution plan is still on schedule since the inmates’ clemency appeals have
been rejected,” he said. Spontana said because of the technical reasons, the
executions are likely to be postponed for two or three weeks. “We have not
decided on a date yet, but once the renovation is finished, we will immediately
transfer them; maybe next week or two weeks,” he said.

The
convicts are Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran.

They
are the ringleaders of a group of nine Australians arrested in 2005 for
attempting to smuggle 8.3 kilogrammes or 18.3 pounds of heroin to Australia
from the Indonesian resort Island of Bali.

Other
convicts expected to be shot by firing squad in the second round of executions
in 2015 include one each from Brazil, France, Ghana, the Philippines, Nigeria
and Indonesia.

The
Australian government has repeatedly appealed to Indonesia to show mercy to
Chan (31) and Sukumaran (33), saying they have been rehabilitated. Chan
and Sukumaran were the ringleaders of the ‘Bali Nine’ who were arrested in
Indonesia in 2005 for trying to smuggle 8.3 kilogrammes of heroin to Australia.

This
week, the family of the Brazilian drug convict, Rodrigo Gularte, also appealed
to the government to spare him, saying he has been diagnosed with mental
illness.